Fabulous baker boy caps
IT’S gentlemen’s classics week in THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE (BBC1, 9pm). I suspect you may not be terribly bothered right now, and that you’d far rather hear what’s happening over on ITV in episode three of the intriguingly odd Viewpoint, but we’ll get to that in a moment if you don’t mind.
For now, it’s worth just taking a quick look at the tasks lined up by Joe Lycett and the judges (great name for band, that, by the way) for the Sewing Bee’s eight remaining contestants.
Why? Well, because they start this week with an item that nobody on the Sewing Bee has ever been asked to make before, as seen on BBC gangster drama Peaky Blinders.
No, it’s not a machine gun (you’re thinking of Metalwork Challenge, coming soon to BBC4) but one of those natty baker boy caps that gang leader Tommy Shelby and his cronies like to wear
– the perfect stylish accessory for the 1930s gent about town, particularly when the 1930s gent about town is casually strolling into a bar and showering its occupants in a hail of bullets to the accompaniment of a track by Nick Cave.
Also tonight, the contestants are asked to turn a bunch of old suit jackets and blazers into “a fashionable woman’s garment”. And if any of them dares ask how on earth a “fashionable woman’s garment” falls into the category of a gentleman’s classic, they’ll be taken outside and thrown into the river.
So anyway, yes, VIEWPOINT (9pm), the ITV police surveillance drama that tonight reaches its halfway mark.
It now seems that missing teacher Gemma was caught up in something dodgy, and that her boyfriend Greg may have had nothing to do with her disappearance. “Ah, but that’s exactly what heWANTS us to think,” the police seem to be concluding.
Meanwhile, spy-cop character DC Martin Young (Noel Clarke) is developing a hunch (instinctwise, I mean, not the Notre-Dame kind) and seeks out a retired officer who may be able to shed some light on the case.
Elsewhere, back in the real world, the theme of this year’s GREAT BRITISH MENU (BBC2, 8pm) is continuing to inspire some remarkable dishes.
That theme, remember, is British innovation and invention.
For tonight’s heat, featuring chefs from Northern Ireland, one of them has decided to commemorate the Titanic, while another has been inspired by Viagra.
I’ve been toying with at least a dozen different pay-offs here, including quite a good one involving a disappointing soufflé, but instead I’ve decided to show a little dignity and self-restraint.
Don’t worry, I doubt it’ll last.